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This review may contain spoilers
KCIA drug smuggling operation during the military rule
The first episode on the hijacked plane was simply great, It was like a full movie, without any filler scemes. Tremendously entertaining and suspense filled. We are introduced to Baek Ki Tae and find out he's an intelligence agent hustling a side job.
In ep 2 as we're still wondering about how on earth can intelligence agents actually be running a drug production and smuggling operation, we get sidetracked into a story of a woman who returns to Korea and seems to be able to blackmail all of the men sitting at the top of the military junta. Baek Ki Tae is tasked with babysitting her. Ep 2 starts to fill me with doubts about the drama as queen Cho Yeo Jung's character is a totally pathetic character wanting to have a fling with Baek Ki Tae. But we get excellent comedic scenes with prosecutor Jang Gun Yeong (Jung Woo Sung) and his female sidekick (Seo Eun Soo) chasing after the ice cooker Dae Il.
By ep 3 the comedy is gone. We're thrown into internal intrigues in the intelligence agency and goverment top brass fighting each other (boring). For some reason we get short scenes of Baek Ki Tae's brother and sister. Their role in the drama remains vague as each have abt 5 mins of screentime.
Last 3 episodes, more of the same. Prosecutor fights hard, Baek Ki Tae fights back, big shots fight each other and we take sidetrips to Japan and back, Vietnam and back, each lasting about 5 mins. Barely time to drink a coffee in each destination, much less a beer. Much fighting. That's about it. Everything that could have been interesting, is glossed over.
The story of KCIA drug smuggling operation during the military rule had ingredients for a 30 episode drama. Yet they squeezed it into 6 episodes. Like a synopsis without well developed characters, without in-depth exploration of the historical background, without properly giving a life to all the players and characters involved. If this had been a c-drama (like Narcotic Operation) we'd have spent 3 episodes hanging out in Vietnam alone. Having a real heart to heart discussion over a beer.
I really didn't get Woo Do Hwan's role. It's not like we really got to know Baek Ki Tae's family. Or the yakuza family that had max 20 mins screentime during the whole run (so why even introduce it).
Yes, there's going to be S2, but I already struggled to keep up with the plot when the episodes were 1 week apart. Can't imagine to remember anything about this when S2 eventually drops.
I believe Disney had a full script but butchered it just like they did with Arthdal Chronicles' final season. Disney is all action and little character depth or world building.
Jung Woo Sung was absolutely stellar in this though. It's worth watching his acting which, as one of the reviews says, is like he was acting in the real masterpiece of a drama that Made in Korea could have been. I have to mention also Roh Jae Won, he was excellent. Hyun Bin's character is a ruthless murderer and drug trader and people mistook him for a good guy. He was pretty good and shed his usually goofiness but would have needed to go one step further to portray true evil (which can be done by small gestures).
This is a 7.5.
In ep 2 as we're still wondering about how on earth can intelligence agents actually be running a drug production and smuggling operation, we get sidetracked into a story of a woman who returns to Korea and seems to be able to blackmail all of the men sitting at the top of the military junta. Baek Ki Tae is tasked with babysitting her. Ep 2 starts to fill me with doubts about the drama as queen Cho Yeo Jung's character is a totally pathetic character wanting to have a fling with Baek Ki Tae. But we get excellent comedic scenes with prosecutor Jang Gun Yeong (Jung Woo Sung) and his female sidekick (Seo Eun Soo) chasing after the ice cooker Dae Il.
By ep 3 the comedy is gone. We're thrown into internal intrigues in the intelligence agency and goverment top brass fighting each other (boring). For some reason we get short scenes of Baek Ki Tae's brother and sister. Their role in the drama remains vague as each have abt 5 mins of screentime.
Last 3 episodes, more of the same. Prosecutor fights hard, Baek Ki Tae fights back, big shots fight each other and we take sidetrips to Japan and back, Vietnam and back, each lasting about 5 mins. Barely time to drink a coffee in each destination, much less a beer. Much fighting. That's about it. Everything that could have been interesting, is glossed over.
The story of KCIA drug smuggling operation during the military rule had ingredients for a 30 episode drama. Yet they squeezed it into 6 episodes. Like a synopsis without well developed characters, without in-depth exploration of the historical background, without properly giving a life to all the players and characters involved. If this had been a c-drama (like Narcotic Operation) we'd have spent 3 episodes hanging out in Vietnam alone. Having a real heart to heart discussion over a beer.
I really didn't get Woo Do Hwan's role. It's not like we really got to know Baek Ki Tae's family. Or the yakuza family that had max 20 mins screentime during the whole run (so why even introduce it).
Yes, there's going to be S2, but I already struggled to keep up with the plot when the episodes were 1 week apart. Can't imagine to remember anything about this when S2 eventually drops.
I believe Disney had a full script but butchered it just like they did with Arthdal Chronicles' final season. Disney is all action and little character depth or world building.
Jung Woo Sung was absolutely stellar in this though. It's worth watching his acting which, as one of the reviews says, is like he was acting in the real masterpiece of a drama that Made in Korea could have been. I have to mention also Roh Jae Won, he was excellent. Hyun Bin's character is a ruthless murderer and drug trader and people mistook him for a good guy. He was pretty good and shed his usually goofiness but would have needed to go one step further to portray true evil (which can be done by small gestures).
This is a 7.5.
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